Randall <I have a facsimile first edition of the Book of Mormon and I have read it several times.>

I do as well.

Randall <I don't see any theological differences between the first edition and the current edition.>

Here are a few just in 1 Nephi relating to confusion between the Father and the Son - Compare 1830 version to today's at

1 Nephi 11:21 1830 - Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the eternal Father Today - Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the son of the eternal Father1 Nephi 11:32 1830 - the everlasting God was judged of the world Today - the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world1 Nephi 13:40 32 1830 - the Lamb of God is the Eternal Father and Savior Today - the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father and Savior

Randall <There have been corrections to the text, most were spelling and grammar and there were some actual words changed. . . . >

Thank you for your honesty.

Randall <Most of the changes were reconciled to the printer's manuscript and/or the manuscripts written by the scribes who took the dictation.>

I wonder if this is where blaming it on the secretary started. Unfortunately that is not plausible since thousands of errors would not seem to reconcile with the LDS record of this process. David Whitmerrecorded that the translation process involved Joseph using a seer stone in a hat, putting the hat on his face where one letter at a time would appear. Joseph would then read the letter in English to his scribe who would write it down and repeat it back for verification.

Further, after publication of the 1830 edition, Joseph boasted the rest of his life, as do other leaders to this day, that the BOM is the “most correct of any book on earth.”

Randall <The Church has never been embarrassed about the BOM. . . . >

Although it is not nearly as problematic as the Book of Abraham, since it is used as a first-line proselytizing tool, I think it is a continuing embarrassment to the integrity of the LDS since they continueto proclaim BOM to be “the most correct of any book on earth.” Instead of the kind of categorical denial in Sneakpuff's last post, the honest thing for LDS Missionaries to do would be to advise people of this problem before they try to get them to blindly accept the BOM.

When people discover this later it can be a real problem. It has burned out some who might otherwise have been LDS leaders. You may recall Ezra Taft Benson, the late Mormon president and prophet. Steve Benson, his grandson, wrote publicly on this subject:

“Troubling to us was the pathological unwillingness of the Mormon Church to deal forthrightly with its doctrine and history. Our personal study revealed that church canon, history, and scripture had been surreptitiously altered, skewed, rewritten, contradicted, and deleted.” The Arizona Republic, May 1994

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